5 Acts of Creative Disruption

This article accompanies 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine.Click here to subscribe!

The shadow of corporate domination has never felt so powerful—but neither has the ingenuity of resistance. Here are five ways everyday people have brought national attention to some of our biggest corporate calamities.

1. Mic Check for Health Care

In the spirit of the Occupy movement, protesters "mic checked" Scott Serota, President and CEO of
Blue Cross Blue Shield, at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

They stated that Serota was an "example of the one percent in the
health care industry who ... influence the health
bill to create more profit for health insurers at the expense of human
suffering and preventable death."

Reading from a prepared script, the lead was passed from one
protester to another when the original speaker was escorted peacefully
from the room.

2. Billboard Improvement for AT&T and the NSA

In 2008, the Billboard Liberation Front, a San Francisco group responsible for defacing—or, in their words, improving—corporate messages on billboards, took on AT&T and the National Security Agency. The "improvement action" shown here was designed to "celebrate" and highlight the partnership of the two organizations.

"This
campaign is an extraordinary rendition of a public-private
partnership," BLF spokesperson Blank DeCoverly announced in a facetious press release. "These two
titans of telecom have a long and intimate relationship, dating back to
the age of the telegraph. In these dark days of Terrorism, that should
be a comfort to every law-abiding citizen with nothing to hide."

3. Occupy Black Friday

While some people were wrestling with—or pepper-spraying—each other
over video games on the most chaotic shopping day of the year, Occupiers held a mic check protest at a San Diego
Walmart.

"Citizens of Walmart!" the call and response began. "In the spirit
of holiday giving, we believe a discussion is in order about the
meaning of value and low cost." They went on to talk about low wages,
deliberate understaffing, worker mistreatment, and how "every sweet
deal" represented jobs being moved overseas. Then they left with a
smile.

4. Target Ain't People

When Target spent $150,000 to support a Minnesota politician who favors anti-gay legislation, thousands of people
decided to boycott the big-box chain. But instead of simply shopping
elsewhere, these activists turned to the popular musical-style TV show,
GLEE, for inspiration. With choreography, a catchy tune, and Target accessories as props, they took shoppers and employees by surprise.

5. MyHairCares

To draw attention to the destructive practices of Enbridge, the oil company responsible for the 2010 spill in Michigan, pranksters The Yes Men—Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum—coordinated a campaign called "MyHairCares": In the name of the company, they requested that salons send in discarded hair to be used as an oil sponge.

Great moments in “laughtivism” from Yes Men Andy Bichlbaum and Mike
Bonanno, the guys who duped the BBC, embarrassed Dow Chemical, and
mocked Halliburton.

7 signs the corporatocracy is losing its legitimacy ... and 7 populist tools to help shut it down.

Introducing the movement that’s shifting our vision of what kind of
world is possible—from the new book, “This Changes Everything: Occupy
Wall Street and the 99% Movement.”

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Ayla Harbin and Christa Hillstrom compiled this collection for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions for a just and sustainable world. Ayla is a web intern and Christa is web managing editor at YES!